Winter has arrived as Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald takes on the slopes of Granite Peak, a popular ski and snowboarding area in snowy Rib Mountain State Park. Granite Peak ski instructor Brenda Zimmermann Thorpe details what makes this destination so attractive from rental equipment to terrain parks to adaptive ski experiences. Brenda then gives Angela a beginner’s ski lesson. Then she travels to the top of Rib Mountain to take in the panoramic vistas of Wausau and Marathon County.
Staying with the frosty season, we meet Deb Whitehorse, an iceboating afficionado. Her father built iceboats in the basement. She raced competitively then became – and still is – the secretary of the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in Madison. As a self-described master organizer, she runs regattas, records races and also helps manage international racing competitions.
Next, we head to Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights Neighborhood to visit artist Evelyn Patricia Terry and her gallery of creations. She went to school to study home economics before being discovered by a teacher who encouraged her to pursue art. She did, and her journey into the art world was eye-opening. Today, Terry’s art includes more than 400 public, private, and corporate collections around the world.
Then, it’s time to get cold and wet. When the temperatures drop and the snow flies in Kewaskum, most people hunker down. For Jason Wood and Danny Dorn, it’s a signal to get busy orchestrating a symphony of snow-making machines, water hoses and personnel to groom Sunburst Winter Sports Park.
Finally, the story of Ankur Malhotra’s lifelong quest to find India’s very own blues music is told through this animated tale. After attending graduate school at UW-Madison, Ankur along with his best friend Ashutosh Sharma discovered a deep need to preserve Indian music and created Amarrass Records. They discover legendary masters of Indian music, such as Lahka Khan and Barmer Boys.
